Rte. 116 Open Again after 13-Hour Gas Main Repair

George Washington Highway (Rte. 116) reopened at 1 a.m. this morning after National Grid stopped a gas leak at FGX, 500 George Washington Highway that shut the road for 13 hours.

Smithfield Fire Chief Bob Seltzer said the leak was stopped at about 6 p.m. last night after the utility company bypassed the gas line around the break and across the road. The break was caused when a back hoe accidentally cut into a high-pressure gas line. 

Seltzer said a sub-contractor for Site-Tech, a construction firm, was using a trench-cutting saw to dig a new utility trench for FGX, a designer and marketer of non-prescription reading glasses and sunglasses. Seltzer said the contractor had contacted Dig Safe and knew the location of the gas line, but the sub-contractor mis-judged the cut, making a three-inch opening in the line. "The saw nicked the pipe and, it being a high-pressure line, that's all it took," Seltzer said.

The FGX building was evacuated for about an hour, Seltzer said, while the Fire Department ensured there was no gas being drawn in to their air conditioning system, and the system was closed to outside air. A nearby house was also briefly evacuated, Seltzer said.

Though the gas line was leaking for about six hours, Seltzer said there was little danger, since natural gas dissipates into the atmosphere quickly, and the leak happened in a non-congested area. 

Repairs on the line lasted from 6 p.m. Tuesday until about midnight after National Grid set up the bypass, Seltzer said.

See more:

National Grid Working to Isolate Gas Line Break on Rte. 116 in Smithfield